mark your calendars march 19th when the delayed debt ceiling crisis could come back to haunt us. the budget battle and considering the behavior of possums and ducks begs the question of when those responsible for governing will act more like the people we have elected them to be and less like political animals. with me at the table, arie, vickie, assistant dean, robert and co-founder of no label, david walker, the formal head of the office at gao. nice to have you all here. okay. so -- we have big problems. huge issues that need to be solved in our country. it looks like we are going to be lurching every six weeks to another silly drip drap showdown for four years. is that what we are looking at here? >> what the republicans have done is always keeping this administration on the defense from a fiscal standpoint. your point was brilliant in how you worded it. every six months we have the conversation where the republican party wants to be. they want to rebrand themselves as fiscal austerity and fiscal restraint. medicare part d and iraq. that was so ten years ago. but to my earlie